Thursday Open Thread | House hearing on reparations for slavery set for next week

Posted on June 13, 2019 by SouthernGirl2

WASHINGTON (AP) — The topic of reparations for slavery is headed to Capitol Hill for its first hearing in more than a decade with writer Ta-Nehisi Coates and actor Danny Glover set to testify before a House panel.

The House Judiciary Subcommittee on the Constitution, Civil Rights and Civil Liberties is scheduled to hold the hearing next Wednesday, its stated purpose “to examine, through open and constructive discourse, the legacy of the Trans-Atlantic Slave Trade, its continuing impact on the community and the path to restorative justice.” The date of the hearing, June 19, coincides with Juneteenth, a cultural holiday commemorating the emancipation of enslaved blacks in America.

Former Democratic Rep. John Conyers of Michigan, the longtime sponsor of House Resolution 40, first proposed the measure calling for a study of reparations in 1989. Conyers reintroduced the bill every session until his resignation in 2017.

Texas Democratic Rep. Sheila Jackson Lee, the resolution’s new sponsor, introduced it earlier this year and pushed for next week’s hearing. House Speaker Nancy Pelosi said in February that she supports a reparations study, a topic that hasn’t been the subject of a House hearing since 2007.

Reparations had been a fringe issue and occasional punchline until Coates’ 2014 essay in The Atlantic, “The Case for Reparations,” thrust the topic back into the national discourse. Glover, an activist as well as the star of the “Lethal Weapon” movies and the classics “The Color Purple” and “A Rage in Harlem,” has spoken in favor of the issue for years.

In an interview with Coates as he prepared to leave office, President Barack Obama questioned the implementation of reparations, but not the concept. And in a conversation Coates had earlier this year with Rep. Alexandria Ocasio-Cortez, D-N.Y., the popular progressive endorsed reparations.

The reparations debate became part of the 2020 presidential race early, as several Democratic presidential primary candidates signaled their support for compensating the descendants of slaves, though not in the traditional sense of direct payouts to black Americans. Most have been vague on more specific ideas, but they have instead offered policies addressing economic inequality that could disproportionately benefit blacks.

About SouthernGirl2

A Native Texan who adores baby kittens, loves horses, rodeos, pomegranates, & collect Eagles. Enjoys politics, games shows, & dancing to all types of music. Loves discussing and learning about different cultures. A Phi Theta Kappa lifetime member with a passion for Social & Civil Justice.
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134 Responses to Thursday Open Thread | House hearing on reparations for slavery set for next week

  12. SouthernGirl2 says:
    June 13, 2019 at 3:27 pm

    Sarah Sanders can get on that fast track train to hell.
    https://twitter.com/samstein/status/1139263932374421508

    Reply
  13. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 3:03 pm

    Can I just say that my mind has gone back to Omar filing a joint return with her husband……
    The problem being…
    Not only before they were married..

    But when she was MARRIED TO SOMEONE ELSE 👀👀👀

    Reply
  15. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 2:53 pm

    Willard?
    A decision that requires a spine?😂😂😂😂

    https://twitter.com/soonergrunt/status/1139253194440101888

    Reply
  26. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 12:12 pm

    A slight problem

    OK, here’s the issue: the Constitution wasn’t designed to deal with people who want to actively subvert it from a position of power.

    ………………….

    In case you’ve been under a rock, Donald Trump averred last night in an interview that if a foreign entity were to come to him with dirt on his Democratic opponent, not only would he not tell the FBI, but he would use the information. In one interview, he gave the green light to Russia, North Korea, and anyone else who is benefiting from having him in the White House to unleash hell on his opponents. While by the strict Constitutional definition this isn’t treason, it’s sedition, subversion, espionage. I’m sure Trump would say “Well, we’ve interfered in plenty of elections.” I’m just waiting for that tweet, because it’s what he believes. Yes, the US has been wrong, during the Cold War, of what Trump is inviting foreign actors to do. That doesn’t mean that a sitting President of the United States should then turn around and apply the same standards to this country. This is definitely a textbook case of chickens coming home.

    Of course, Trump wouldn’t be able to get away with any of his malfeasance were it not that the leader of one of the chambers of Congress has abrogated all his Constitutional responsibilities. Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is, I will argue, destroying the Constitution far more effectively than Trump is. Trump is a buffoon, and could be contained were the Senate to exercise its responsibilities. People are excoriating Speaker Nancy Pelosi for not frogmarching Trump out of the West Wing. “Dems in disarray” is the order of the day. But not one single journalist camps outside of McConnell’s office and hounds him as to why it seems that he’s not doing even the bare minimum of his job. As dangerous as Trump is, he can do what he does, including inviting subversion of our electoral processes, because of Mitch McConnell, and that reptilian shell-dweller gets a free pass from the media and those pounding on Pelosi.

    And here is why impeachment isn’t the end all and be all it’s made up to be: These people don’t care about the Constitution. They use it to get elected, but they have absolutely no fealty to it. Imagine if Richard Nixon had hinted at foreign power for help to keep him in power. For all his many crimes, he was no traitor. Such a suggestion comes out of Trump’s mouth without a second thought. McConnell prevented President Barack Obama from even receiving a vote on his choice to replace Antonin Scalia, and called it his “proudest moment”. Yes, he disdained his Constitutional responsibility and was proud of it. Much like the South in 1861, the Republican Party has no use for the Constitution. An impeachment won’t shame it. It will feel no remorse at being stained with it. It will just simply ignore it.

    Reply
  33. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 10:15 am

    NEW: “@KamalaHarris has nabbed the endorsement of South Carolina’s most well-known grassroots organizers. The “Reckoning Crew,” a group of 100 predominately black female activists, announced its endorsement of the California Democrat on Thursday.” https://t.co/7V9o7xvmrz— Jerusalem Demsas (@JeruDemsas) June 13, 2019

    Reply
  34. Ametia says:
    June 13, 2019 at 9:57 am
    Reply
  37. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 9:45 am

    So,

    Nobody is reporting on Bernie’s big speech?

    BWA HA HA HA HA HA HA HA

    Reply
  48. Ametia says:
    June 13, 2019 at 9:12 am

    Word of the Day : June 13, 2019

    Scrutinize: verb SKROO-tuh-nyze

    Definition

    1 : to examine closely and minutely

    2 : to make a scrutiny

    Reply
  54. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 8:40 am

    House to investigate Secretary Elaine Chao corruption allegations
    Rep. Sean Patrick Maloney, chair of the House Marine Transportation Subcommittee, tells Rachel Maddow that he has been given the green light to investigate corruption allegations against Transportation Secretary Elaine Chao for using her position to benefit her family’s company and her husband, Senator Majority Leader Mitch McConnell.

    Reply
  55. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 8:39 am

    Flynn signals pardon Hail Mary with new Mueller-bashing lawyer
    Rachel Maddow looks at disgraced Donald Trump NSA Michael Flynn’s new lawyer, a Robert Mueller-bashing Fox News pundit, and posits that Flynn is counting on Fox News posturing to earn himself a pardon from Trump.

    Reply
  56. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 8:38 am

    Openness to illegality exposes Trump to risk of being compromised
    David Laufman former chief of the DOJ’s Counterintelligence and Export Control Section, talks with Rachel Maddow about how a foreign power might take advantage of a candidate who accepted illegal campaign assistance.

    Reply
  57. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 8:37 am

    CONSIDERING?
    We are well past the time for ‘considering’.

    Schiff considering subpoena for FBI on Trump counterintelligence
    Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee, explains to Rachel Maddow why he is considering using a subpoena on the FBI to find out what became of the counterintelligence investigation into Donald Trump.

    Reply
  58. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 8:34 am

    Trump unchastened by Russia scandal, still open to foreign help
    Rep. Adam Schiff, chairman of the House Intelligence Committee talks with Rachel Maddow about a new video in which Donald Trump says he would accept information about his opponent from a foreign power and calls FBI Director Wray wrong for saying the FBI should be called in such a circumstance.

    Reply
  105. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 6:35 am

    😂😂😂🤣 🤣🤣 🤣

    https://youtu.be/1v9KZTt5D8k

    Reply
  106. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 6:34 am

    I enjoy his videos 🤗

    https://youtu.be/Qqp-hwgQo2o

    Reply
  112. rikyrah says:
    June 13, 2019 at 1:49 am

    Good Morning, Everyone 😄😄😄

    Reply

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